The craze over adult coloring books has subsided, but there still is a significant demand or volume of sales for it in the book market.

If you are looking at creating your own, there is plenty of room to do that. Besides, you can always create a hybrid product that incorporates coloring designs into journals, planners, calendars, cards, bags, mugs, fabric, among others.

This opportunity should be a source of inspiration and motivation to you.

Coloring Practice: Fun but Expensive

Coloring is a pleasurable activity that brings significant health benefits to your mind and body. It works on releasing happy hormones to relieve you of stress, calm you down, let you sleep well, and maintain your level of energy even in stressful situations.

Yet, maintaining a coloring habit can be strainful to the pocket. Take these instances…

Coloring books. You don’t only buy one coloring book to work on. You buy more. You don’t only buy once but you buy every time one catches your eye or your favorite artist releases a new one.

Coloring supplies. Then, you need to buy your coloring supplies; not just any kind. You don’t want used ones but new. Because you color on a regular basis, your supplies get depleted and you need to replenish them.

Coloring events. You decide to join a network of local colorists who meet regularly. There is a “minimal” fee to attend, excluding food that you bring to share or buy at the venue.

Yeah, it’s fun but where does that take you?

What if you create your own designs?

What if you publish and sell them online or in offline bookstores or outlets?

What if you organize your own coloring events using your own designs?

How about opening your own online store and selling unlimited digital downloads of your artwork?

What if?

Have you thought about all these possibilities?

Why not?

7 Ways to Profit from Your Coloring Designs

Let’s look into seven profit centers for your own coloring designs.

What can you do with them?

How can you maximize earnings from your own designs?

Here are seven ways:

# 1 – Self-publish a physical book

When you create your own designs, publishing a physical book under your name is always a prime objective. These days, self-publishing is easy given the existing number of print-on-demand (POD) platforms. Popular POD companies that print your book on demand and ships them to you or your customers are as follows:

# 4 – Drip content to your membership site

Here, you set up your own coloring book membership. Then, you use your coloring designs in PDF or zipped files to drip feed to your members.

# 5 – Manage a coloring group or club

You may have participated in activities launched by coloring groups or clubs in your locality or zone. In this case, why not organize and launch parties for coloring artists, enthusiasts, and hobbyists and use your artwork or sell them your coloring pages or books?

# 6 – Build your subscriber list

You may give away your coloring ebooks or pages for free to attract people to your site. You can then upsell or offer them your other stuff.

Two things happen here:

First,you build your list as you get people to sign up to your offer and be a subscriber. For marketers, entrepreneurs, authors and anyone doing business, having access to subscribers via their email is important. It’s an effective way to keep in close contact with your target audience and customers.

Second, you create avenues to earn income. As you earn your subscribers’ “know, like and trust” relationship with you, it would easier for them to patronize you and your products.

# 7 – Earn affiliate commissions

Sprinkle affiliate links in your coloring ebook giveaways and you just might earn a nice commission from promoted products.

It’s best to put a disclaimer saying that you promote products you think might help them and that if they decide to buy using your links, you get a share.

Creative PLR: Same Profit Opportunities?

How about PLR designs that you buy?

Can you use them to take advantage of these seven profit opportunities?

First off, you have to be clear about what rights you get with your purchase. Private label rights basically give you the rights to attach your own brand or private label to the product bought or to its parts. That’s the very least you can do.

If you buy creative PLR content from me, for sure, you can:

Self-publish your physical book

Sell at your own store or shop online and offline

Sell downloadable digital ebooks at other online shops

Drip content to your membership site

Manage a coloring group or club

Build your subscriber list

Earn affiliate commissions.

Here’s a caveat:

[/] You must brand it as your own using your name, label and/or logo.[/] You can modify this product in part or whole[X] You cannot give away this product as is[X] You cannot sell this exact product with PLR and claim as your own.

Cheers to all the possibilities with your creative PLR – big or small!

I would love to hear what you think about how you can profit from your coloring designs.

I have been into journaling some 30 plus years ago, back when fancy journals weren’t in style. My journal was my go-to pal at various stages of my life.

And coloring? My interest in coloring started in early 2015 back when the adult coloring book market was flourishing. The books looked awesome, the designs to me were a source of envy. I thought “I must create art like that.”

I bought all sorts of coloring books, courses, apps, learning materials, and anything I could to get a grip on this thing called coloring.

I got a number of software applications that create designs automatically. They were okay but I wasn’t pleased with them.

To make the story short, I painstakingly learned to create my designs – from hand-sketching to transforming them into digitized print quality images. I packaged my designs as coloring journals and published them at CreateSpace and Amazon. I also sold them at Fiverr and Etsy.

Since taking on my creative hobby, I have gained new meaning in life beyond being a work-at-home mom. Although I had creative streaks while at a young age, like all of us probably did, now I am confident about the idea that I am an artist.

Lessons from a Hobbyist

Here’s what I found out through the course of roughly four years pursuing my hobby:

First, it’s fun. It is like child’s play and enjoying a treat at your favorite candy store!

Third, it blessed me with a strong sense of pride in my hands. It feels really good to let things come out of the realm of imagination and give it form.

Fourth, it can be a great source of income. I haven’t fully maximized my earning but I did earn something.

Fifth, it can be a life-long career especially when taken seriously so that it matures from simply just a hobby.

How to Transition from a Hobbyist to a Careerist

You know that a hobbyist is one who pursues a particular hobby. A careerist, on the other hand, is one “whose main concern is for professional advancement, especially one willing to achieve this by any means.” (Source:Oxford Dictionaries)

It’s great to have a hobby. It keeps you up and going and always young at heart; but how about making a career or business out of it?

Why not?

I am not there yet but I have learned valuable lessons that I live by, moving forward:

Have a goal. What do you want to achieve with what you have? Where do you want to be? How do you see yourself years from now?

Small steps matter. As a saying by Confucius goes, “It doesn’t matter how slowly you go as long as you don’t stop.” It’s also about practicing the Tortoise mindset: “Slow and steady wins the race.”

Practice, practice, practice. As you may have already known, practice makes perfect! It is also by practicing that you earn experience.

Learn from others. You don’t always have the answers nor the skills needed so you have to turn to others as a rich resource.

Develop your own techniques. You may copy or emulate how others do things. Let it be a start, but it should not be the end. There’s no place for stagnation in this dynamic world. Soon, you’ll discover that you are unique on your own. You can never replicate others nor can they replicate you.

Believe in yourself. It’s so easy to succumb to insecurity and self-pity upon seeing the remarkable works of others and how far they have gone. However, you should always believe in yourself. If you don’t, who would? No matter how well people cheer you on, it would all be for nothing if you run away from who you are and what you could be. As Jason Mraz’ song Details in the Fabric says, “Hold your own, know your name and go your own way… everything will be fine!”

Take action. After all is said and done, brilliant ideas are useless without action. Action makes things happen so go for it with the belief of success despite the odds.

So what now… or what are you waiting for?

If you’re a hobbyist, you may want to think about taking your hobby to the next level. However, if you are happy basking in the joy and solitude you get from your hobby, by all means, stay on with it. After all, you are the captain of your ship and there’s not one single path to everything.

But if you’re ready, why not?

It’s worth a thought, a try, or a challenge. For sure, everything starts with a single step.

As an avid or casual colorist, you may have wondered what to do with your completed coloring pages.

Surely, you want to glance at them regularly to reminisce the moments you spent coloring – whether alone or with your community. You want to hold on to that earned sense of joy and gratitude at how coloring may have led you to make peace with yourself and others and be on your way to healing.

And, yes, there is this thing called pride in your creativity and having completed a masterpiece.

Is there a way to bask in that pride for much longer?

How can they continue to inspire you?

How can you show them off (if that’s what you want)?

How can you maintain this connection with your finished art pieces on an ongoing basis?

How about giving them a makeover or a new home?

Certainly, they can’t remain incognito in the pages of your coloring books. Soon, they’d be forgotten and end up in your stockroom, garage, donation bin, if not in the trash can. That would be spell T-R-A-G-E-D-Y and D-I-S-A-S-T-E-R.

Well, rejoice! It’s not the end of the world. There are plenty of ways to show off your work and if you have rights to brand them (as what PLR content provides), then you may leverage them for added income.

4 Cools Ways to Show Off Your Coloring Pages

Here are simple ways to fix your situation:

First, Hang on Your Wall or Art Gallery

This is the simplest way to showcase your finished coloring pages. Frame them and hang them on your wall. If you want, create an art gallery to share with your family. If space is a concern, you always have the option of switching the pages out as new colored pages come in.

Second, Create Cards

But then, who said that cards are merely for special occasions? Why not give them to say thank you, to celebrate a friendship, or for no reason at all?

Creating cards from your colored pages is simple – just in half for that old-fashioned, handmade look. If you want a more professional look, you could always photograph, scan and plug each one into a card creator or app.

Third, Make Bookmarks

You usually keep bookmarks for yourself but, hey, why not give them as gifts?

To create your bookmarks, cut your colored pages into bookmark sizes and shape. To avoid ripping, tearing and discoloration, you need to laminate them. After all, you want them to last for as long as possible.

Fourth, Use as Gift Wraps

For something small to gift to someone, why not wrap it in one of your coloring pages! That’s a fun and creative way to wrap presents, isn’t it? You may also use them to wrap giveaway souvenirs for parties that you’re hosting. That would be cool.

Coloring is not a new concept and has been around to as far back as the 1880s when the McLoughlin Brothers first published The Little Folks' Painting Book, in collaboration with Kate Greenaway (Wikipedia).

It sure was a fun activity as a child back when life was simpler. As you matured, coloring became more than just fun but also a pleasurable escape and respite to an otherwise stressful life.

It provides various spiritual, psychological, mental, and even social benefits.

Combined with journaling, which lets you go deep into your thoughts and emotions, coloring is even more powerful.

Consider these benefits from adult coloring:

Benefit #1: Adult Coloring Calms You

Have you heard of amygdala? It is that almond-shaped section of the nervous tissue located in the temporal (side) lobe of the brain. In simplistic terms, it is that part of your brain that has to do with your “fight or flight response.”

The amygdala gets activated when you’re overwhelmed, overworked, and anxious. It gets worked up and leaves you feeling panicked.

Coloring helps calm the amygdala, letting you get on with a more positive life experience.

Benefit #2: Adult Coloring Relieves Stress

Stress isn’t always negative. It can be positive. It can compel you to focus on the more important things, take steps to correct a problematic situation, or motivate you to work harder and more efficiently. This is positive stress at its best.

When stress is overwhelming, it becomes negative. Negative stress occurs when you focus on things you can’t change in life no matter how hard you try. It stems mostly from worry, which is a wasted emotion.

Adult coloring takes your mind off the things you fear or worry about, and it helps you focus on the here and now. It allows you to feel calmer and less stressed. You might even walk away from your coloring pages with a renewed sense of energy and a newfound sense of peace.

Benefit #3: Adult Coloring Encourages Mindfulness

Coloring a page takes a great deal of time and effort. It takes precision and careful thought. The amount of invested time you put into coloring brings about mindfulness.

Mindfulness is a process that brings your attention to what’s happening at the moment, not the past nor the future. It’s a proven subtle way to help you focus and be genuinely present in the now.

Mindfulness, when you are coloring, happens while engaged with the following activities:

preparing your paints, pens and other materials

making your brush strokes

pushing your coloring pens onto the designs

sharpening your tools

and more.

Benefit #4: Adult Coloring Improves Mental Health

Coloring is an excellent way to improve mental health. Through coloring, you are able to:

reflect on your life, both current and future

gain valuable insights

develop clarity about past experiences, current situations, and future directions

achieve confidence, security, and stability through your interactions with people sharing your common interest in coloring.

Even if you aren’t anxious or too stressed, you can benefit from adult coloring. It’s designed to remind you of the simple pleasures of life.

Now, now…

You don’t need a ton of information to convince you of the power of coloring. You only need to do a page of adult coloring to realize that it’s not only addictive. It also does what this article promises!

The adult coloring book craze may have died down a bit but, hey, adult coloring is here to stay!

If you’re a creative or an aspiring artist and wonder how you can create line art for coloring books as well as self-publish your own coloring book, I have just what you’re looking for.

How to Make a Coloring Book: A Great Go-to Learning University

Four years or so ago, I was in your position. I knew nothing much so I went on a quest to learn the details of how to make a coloring book. There were a number of channels I went to but one made a mark.

Why?

Learning was so easy to learn with all these features:

videos are short, quick and easy to digest

relevant, downloadable resources

practice assignment to hone your skills and get guidance

a project gallery to showcase your work-in-progress and completed work

access to an active and supportive community of like-minded people

professional answers to your questions, concerns, and requests.

A big initial come on for me what that it didn’t cost me an arm and leg to enroll in them.

It’s so popular among artists, crafters, art enthusiasts, hobbyists, entrepreneurs, and teachers (though not much with internet marketers).

That learning platform is Skillshare!

Skillshare is a “learning community of creators and makers. Anyone can join.” Learners may be teachers and teachers may be learners.

“Skillshare is to unlock the world’s creativity. We believe that everyone is creative, and that giving people tools to harness their creative power has the potential to change lives for the better. We’re dismantling the traditional barriers to learning so that anyone, anywhere in the world, can learn whatever they set their minds to.”

Creating an adult coloring book on swear words may not appeal to you like it didn’t for me. However, your adult coloring book may be something else other than swear words. How about on gratitude, forgiveness, happiness, or anything inspirational?

The point of learning from this course is the technique of creating the coloring page. It runs for only 23 minutes with the option to speed it up by twice the normal speed.

Coloring is an inexpensive, easy, and fun way to de-stress and unwind.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed or under the weather, coloring can make you feel better. It can clear your mind of clutter and make you feel calmer and more in control.

You may feel a bit silly, confused, or even a little embarrassed to begin coloring as an adult; but, hey, coloring is an “in” thing among adults and even if the adult coloring book industry has dipped in sales, it still is a major player and won’t disappear anytime soon. Perhaps, not ever.

Getting started may be the hardest part if you’re a beginner but once you realize just how peaceful and calming coloring is, it may be hard for you to stop.

3 Steps to Start Your Coloring Practice

Here are three simple steps to start coloring:

1) Get a Few Coloring Supplies

You don’t need any fancy supplies to start coloring. In fact, you don’t need much of anything to color.

To start with, get a blank sheet of paper, a pen or pencil, draw your design or image, and add colors from crayons or pens you already have.

I bought my coloring supplies from a local art store when I started coloring. They were quite expensive but since my adrenaline was high for coloring, I didn’t mind.

You don’t have to take that route. There are many inexpensive and reasonable options, as follows:

First, if you already have a personal collection, use it. Look around. You may not have realized it but what you’re looking for may just be right under your nose.

Second, if you’re a mom like me, scour your kid’s supply box or bags for crayons, markers, coloring pens, or paints. I have three kids and over the years, we have accumulated a bunch of coloring pens, markers, pencils, pastels, and paints. We have already discarded a whole lot but still have more.

Third, hunt for used coloring supplies at your local thrift shops. They would be in used condition but not completely tattered. In one of my trips to Value Village, I found a set of Grumbacher Deluxe Opaque Watercolors at $7.99 Cdn. A brand new set sells at $49 Cdn or $35.99 US. It was a great find.

Fourth,go to your dollar store. There are lots there.

There’s no stopping you from buying fancy coloring supplies. However, if you’re just starting out or simply testing the waters, go for used, discounted or inexpensive ones. You can then go premium as you progress in your coloring practice. You save a handsome lot that way.

2) Get Yourself a Coloring Book

Finding an adult coloring book these days is easy. If leaving the house is an ordeal, shopping online is a convenient way to go. Shop around town and find one at your bookstores, shops, department stores, or grocery. You may even find one at your local thrift shop as I did. Have a look at what I found in one of my treasure hunts.

3) Sit Down and Start

Find a comfortable spot where you can do your coloring. Sit down and color.

Keep in mind that:

You are alone with yourself (except when in a coloring community).

No one can judge you nor tell you what to do.

There is no rule to follow – not even rules in color combination – except yours.

You don’t have to be perfect in anything – strokes, colors, time, musings, emotions, outputs.

You are accountable to no one.

You need not show your artwork to anyone if you feel uncomfortable doing so.

Your process is your own.

Know that there is no right or wrong way with coloring. You do as you please with what goes on while coloring. What you get out of it is a personal thing.

Why don’t you try it, if you haven’t yet? See how it goes, how it feels, and how it works.

If you are already into it, please let us in on your experience: How did you get started? What steps did you follow? How did it go?

The craze over adult coloring books has subsided but there still is a significant demand or volume of sales for it in the book market.

If you are looking at creating your own, there is plenty of room to do that. Besides, you can always create a hybrid product that incorporates coloring designs into journals, planners, calendars, cards, bags, mugs, fabric, among others.

This opportunity should be a source of inspiration and motivation to you.

Your Coloring Hobby Need Not Be Expensive

Coloring is a pleasurable activity that brings significant health benefits to your mind and body. It works on releasing happy hormones to relieve you of stress, calm you down, let you sleep well, and maintain your level of energy even in stressful situations.

Yet, maintaining a coloring habit can be strainful to the pocket. Take these for instance:

Coloring books.You don’t only buy one coloring book to work on. You buy more. You don’t only buy once but you buy every time one catches your eye or your favorite artist releases a new one.

Coloring supplies. Then, you need to buy your coloring supplies; not just any kind. You don’t want used ones but new. Because you color on a regular basis, your supplies get depleted and you need to replenish them.

Coloring events. You decide to join a network of local colorists who meet regularly. There is a “minimal” fee to attend, excluding food that you bring to share or buy at the venue.

Yeah, it’s fun but where does that take you?

What if you create your own designs?

What if you publish and sell them in online shops or offline bookstores or outlets?

What if you organize your own coloring events and use your own designs for participants to color?

What if you open your own online store and sell digital copies of your artwork?

What if?

Have you thought of all these possibilities?

Why not?

The possibility of creating your own coloring pages to feed your hobby may not be for you. You may not have the skills, inclination, motivation, or openness to do it… and all you really want is just to color.

That’s fine.

However, if you do, then this is for you!

How to Make a Coloring Book? One Page at a Time!

To reach a destination, you always start with a single step. That’s also how you create a coloring book – one step at a time.

The journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. ~Lao Tzu

Before I came up with a finished digital image of a cancer-stricken woman, I had an image of her in my mind. I then sketched her with a pencil, occasionally erasing parts that didn’t go well.

I inked it, scanned, and went through various other activities to achieve the result I want.

Voila! Done!

I drew other women like the Geisha, Ndebele woman, Chinese, and Afro, following the same process that I learned from others then tested and polished to achieve the results I want. My other illustrations also followed the same process.

13 Steps to Make a Coloring Page

Through the years that I’ve been creating line art, I’ve come to settle on a personal creative process that is an iteration of those I saw others do and those I learned from experience.

My process involves pretty much nine steps, as follows:

1. Conceptualize

This is a quick process that does not require much thinking. It is here where I think about what to create based on a theme, topic or idea.

At times, this process can be unnecessary as creating a coloring page can be random or from out of the blues, when inspiration strikes.

2. Research (Optional)

This is an optional process that I do when I lack knowledge or information on something I like to focus on.

For instance, I search online, the library, or my collection of books, when I need quotes to use. When I drew an image of an African Ndebele woman, I researched online about the tribe particularly on the dominant facial features and attire of their women. Drawings of flowers can be based on imagination or stock information, but when needing accuracy on specific aspects, research comes in handy.

3. Sketch

This is when I put pencil to paper to draw what’s in my mind. Sketches could be a product of conceptualization and research but it can be anything random. It can even be doodles. Do whatever works for you.

For supplies, I often use Staedtler HB pencil. There are many brands to choose from, including pencils kids usually use at school. There is no hard and fast rule for this, only that which works.

4. Erase

This goes hand in hand with sketching and is done to delete mistakes or unwanted strokes.

For this, I use the kneaded eraser or putty rubber.

Kneaded erasers can be shaped by hand for precision erasing, creating highlights, or performing detailing work. They are commonly used to remove light charcoal or graphite marks and in subtractive drawing techniques. However, they are ill-suited for completely erasing large areas, and may smear or stick if too warm. (Wikipedia)

I use to like Staedtler’s retractable eraser but supply for the refill is hard to find and they leave residues or shavings all over. The kneaded eraser doesn’t have this kind of mess although it can smear and get sticky with aging and hot weather.

5. Ink

I ink my drawing using Sakura’s Micron ink pens with the thickness of either 01, 05 or 08. I have tried other brands but the Sakura Micron pens work best for me.

After inking, I discover remaining pencil marks that I either erase with the kneaded eraser or clean up at Adobe Photoshop.

6. Digitize

This is where your scanner comes in handy. I scan my images with the following settings:

Color format: black and white (instead of grayscale or color)

File type: JPEG

Brightness: 100%

Resolution: 1200 DPI.

If your scanner can only do 600 DPI, that’s fine, too. Others recommend a resolution that’s higher than 1200 to capture the details; however, my scanner can only do until 1200 DPI and I have no problem with that.

7. Clean Up

Now that I have a digitized copy of my image, I go to my favorite photo editing software, which is Adobe Photoshop, to clean up my images. I have tried other applications but I always go back to Photoshop even though I pay a monthly fee for subscription to Adobe’s suite of tools. It’s just a personal preference but if finance is a concern for you, or you don’t have Photoshop skills nor the patience to learn it, use whatever works for you.

Clean up involves any one or all of the following:

Erasing pencil marks and unwanted elements in the digitized image

Smoothening the lines

Thickening or thinning the lines

Adding or subtracting elements

Compositing or combining images.

8. Vectorize (Optional)

Vectorizing an image is one that I almost always do it because I love that clean look. I use Adobe Illustrator for this. I simply drag my image from Photoshop over to Illustrator then click image trace. I then do the needed adjustments to create the look that I want.

The finished product from Adobe Illustrator is a vector image when saved in SVG. Vector, unlike raster, images are those that can be scaled to any size without pixelation or loss of quality. However, my purpose for vectorizing is just to achieve a clean look. At the end of it, my coloring pages are saved in non-vector formats.

This process of vectorizing is optional but recommended to give your images that crisp, clean and professional look.

9. Save in Your Desired Format

Once done with vectorizing, I drag back my image to Photoshop and save it in preferred formats. I always do JPEG and PDF for my coloring pages, but if an image requires transparency, I create a PNG file. In special cases, I save an image in SVG format at Adobe Illustrator if a vector image is needed.

Use this guide for familiarity with file formats acronyms:

JPEG – Joint Photographic Experts Group

PNG – Portable Network Graphics

SVG – Scalable Vector Graphics

PDF – Portable Document Format

TIFF – Tag Image File Format.

I don’t normally save in TIFF format.

To save on time, I always do formatting in bulk, not by piece.

10. Test print

I print out a copy of my pages, usually just a sampling, to see how well they look.

11. Review

I review the test prints to check on the following:

Font type

Font size

Spacing of text

Adequacy of allocated space

Margins

Clarity of message

Thickness of line art

Placement of elements

Balance

Grammatical errors

Typographical errors.

12. Enhance (Optional)

I do the needed enhancements after printing test copies of the pages. Otherwise, they are good to go.

13. Compile

When I have completed all the pages I need for one document, say this 31-Day Gratitude Coloring Journal, I bring them over to a publisher or word processing application. I use Microsoft’s Word or Publisher for this. When dealing with images only, I also use Adobe’s Acrobat.

When I have everything in place, I save the document in two formats:

Native file format – Microsoft Word may be saved with .doc or .docx extensions while Microsoft Publisher is .pub. You need the native file formats so you can edit or refer back to the original document.

PDF format – Files in PDF format are handy for sharing files in an easily readable form as well as publishing to platforms (i.e. Createspace) that require a PDF file.

This process is what works for me. You may try it as is or tweak it for your own good. Again, whatever works is best!

If already creating your own coloring pages, how do you do it? What process or steps do you take?

If not yet, is creating your own coloring pages something you would try?

We are all familiar with more ways than one on how to practice gratitude; however, we either forget to do so, find it uncomfortable, icky or cheesy, or simply take it for granted.

If that sounds like you, why not start small and let the habit grow into you.

The hardest arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings. ~Eric Hoffer

You never know what wonders it would do, to you and others.

How Can You Practice Gratitude in Your Daily Life?

Consider these practical ways to express and show thankfulness where it is due, and reap your rewards of positive aura from feeling joyful, peaceful, contented and forward-looking.

#1 – Write a “Thank You” Letter or Note

There is probably someone in your life right now that you need to thank. It is best that you take time to send them a handwritten letter of thanks. This adds more meaning, especially at this time when reaching out to people is as easy as pushing a virtual button. The time that you take to express your feelings by writing them down means more lasting rewards than using electronic media.

However, if this feels like an ordeal, go ahead and send a “thank you” post-it-note, text message, email, private message at Facebook (via Messenger), or whatever means that doesn’t intimidate or scare you from expressing thanks.

#2 – Create a Gratitude Calendar

On your gratitude calendar, write down 3, 5 or 10 things you are grateful for each day. Identify people who have touched or moved you in some way. After writing them in your calendar, read them out loud. Keep this calendar where you can see it constantly.

#3 – Keep a Gratitude Journal

Instead of just jotting down on a gratitude calendar, take it further with a journal where each day you express your thankfulness with just a list, detailed expression, or art. Learn how you can cultivate thankfulness through a gratitude journal HERE.

#4 – Say It Out Loud

Each day, say “I’m grateful for you” to important objects, events and people in your life. Saying thank you to objects like your purse, comb, mirror, notebook, pen, or dress may sound weird or silly. But try it anyway. You’ll be amazed at how much energy it gives you to thank things that serve their purpose 24 hours a day with not a smirk, grunt, cursing or complaining.

#5 – Practice “One Person a Day” Gratefulness

Take a different friend, family member, acquaintance, coworker or service provider each day of the year. Call that person and tell him or here how grateful you are for their presence in your life. You may hug the person, if that’s fine for you. This works a couple of ways. It lets people know that you care about them and appreciate them, and it also forces you to expand your circle of influence.

#6 – Say “Thank You” for Your Meal

Many people in the world don’t eat for days or are uncertain if they could even have water, but you may be more blessed than them in that respect.

You have several choices as far as what food to eat, how much, and when. You could try all sorts of expensive diets – paleo, vegetarian, vegan, keto, gluten-free – not because you have to but because you can afford to. You bulk buy, food binge, and go restaurant-hopping. You discard food that doesn’t suit your taste as easy as a snap. You get what I mean.

Whether you have an abundance of food or eat sparingly, express gratitude for the food you put into your body.

#7 – Give or Donate

You may lament the fact that you don’t have as many clothes, pairs of shoes or possessions as you would like. Find someone who has less than you. Give them something of yours. Perhaps, donate to your local charity, church, food bank or thrift shop. Collect your recyclable bottles and cans and hand them to people who depend on them for their income.

Doing these acts of kindness can make you realize how fortunate and blessed you are.

#8 – Share Your Expertise

Sometimes, all people need is a little boost in knowledge and skills to make a significant difference in their life.

If you are good at cooking, sewing, computing, writing a job application letter, or cutting hair, why not go to local community organizations or even schools to pass on your expertise to others? You may have worked years to achieve that level of proficiency but, hey, we all start somewhere, don’t we?

#9 – Let the Most Important Person in Your Life Know That You Appreciate Them

Go to the nearest mirror. Ask – Who is that person staring back at you? That is the person you should be most appreciative of.

You obviously love your friends and family, but you need to express self-love first before you can form the deepest relationships with others. Frequently look yourself in the eyes and express gratitude for who you are and what you have given yourself.

Tips to Reinforce Your Gratitude Attitude

What you do depends a lot on what goes on in your mind and heart. We’re talking of values and attitudes here. To give you a boost in that respect, here are some helpful tips:

Tip #1 – As soon as you wake up in the morning, give thanks that you have another day to live.

Tip #5 – Rather than focusing your attention inward, look outward and realize what others have done for you.

Tip #6 – Keep a gratitude journal at your bedside. Use it at the same time each day or night.

Tip #7 – Keep “Be Grateful” sticky notes at places that you frequent at home and work.

Tip #8 – Have a list of “gratitude quotes” to refer to each day.

Tip #9 – Find a partner to practice thankfulness each day.

How about you?

What ways do you express your gratitude?

What tips can you add to this list to spread the positive habit of daily gratitude?

Please feel free to share what you’ve got in your pocketful of wisdom!

]]>8 Positive Mindsets to Boost Your Creativityhttp://www.freshplrpossibilities.com/blog/8-positive-mindsets-to-boost-your-creativityhttp://www.freshplrpossibilities.com/blog/8-positive-mindsets-to-boost-your-creativity
Tue, 20 Nov 2018 05:12:34 +0000Do you often wonder why you were not born with a paintbrush in your hand?

Do you envy those who can create art after art after art?

Do you imagine yourself launching your solo art exhibit or taking part in an art show alongside acclaimed artists?

Do you wish you were creative yourself?

Paintbrush. Art. Shows. They are tools of artistry that paint limiting images of creativity.

Defining Creativity

What really is creativity?

How is it to be creative?

Can you be one?

According to Robert E. Franken, author of Human Motivation (1994), creativity is

“the tendency to generate or recognize ideas, alternatives, or possibilities that may be useful in solving problems, communicating with others, and entertaining ourselves and others.

“Don’t be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” ~Rumi, The Essential Rumi

These ways of thinking need to get busted, and what better way than changing your mindset.

Here are interesting ideas about creativity to address these myths and misconceptions:

1. Creative expression varies from person to person

Creativity is not only about arts, crafts or hobbies. It permeates all areas of your life – how you think, manage situations, create solutions to problems, and deal with life in general. You can be creative without necessarily creating with your hands.

Here are a few ways to express creativity differently:

Whip up new recipes by imagining what ingredients work together and picturing out how to cook them;

Do a makeover or transformation of your jeans by hand-painting, cutting the legs to turn to shorts, creating a hobo bag instead of dumping it to the rubbish bin or donation box;

Sew a hole in your favorite dress or shirt and put a patch or flower fabric with a button on top of it;

Concoct a perfumed deodorant from natural and readily-available ingredients in your kitchen.

For finished colored pages, read here about creative ways to enjoy them more.

2. Creativity is “out of the box” thinking

Creativity is a way of looking at a situation from a new angle, vantage point, thinking process, or perspective, to reach a solution. It is thinking, doing, and feeling differently as others do. It means veering from the usual, traditional or commonplace.

3. Creativity is inherent in everyone

When you were born, you didn’t start out with words. You worked with images and your creative imagination to make sense of the world. Creativity is in you. It may lie dormant but it’s there.

4. Creativity is a problem-solving tool

Creativity is a tool to deal with situations, problematic or not.

You may think up of solutions creatively by asking:

How come?

What if?

What about?

Why not?

5. Creativity can be learned

I didn’t know much about creating coloring designs in 2014 but I vowed to learn the creative and technical aspects of doing it.

You, too, can learn to be creative… or learn the tools to pursue your creativity. Have confidence that you can do it.

6. Creativity is never lost

You think you lack creativity when you became a lawyer, doctor, accountant, investigator, police, or politician. These are professions that demand logic and objectivity.

However, just because you are in a strongly left-brain run environment doesn’t mean you can’t be right-brained, which is the realm of the creative brain. You can be both. That’s how brilliant doctors who try novel ways of treatment are able to perform surgery much faster as usual, or they are able to discover breakthrough healing modalities.

Also, just because you think you have not been doing creative stuff since a child of six means that you’ve lost your creativity. Your creativity stays with you and is never lost. Try using your non-dominant hand to doodle or write anything. Try the opposite of what you’re used to doing. Soon, you’ll have it back.

7. Creativity is a choice

Decide to spend an hour a day to perfect that stroke is a choice. Practice writing fiction every day. Keep a daily doodling habit. These are creative expressions and doing them is a choice.

8. Creativity is vital to life

Picture a boiling kettle with a closed lid that has no outlet. When it can no longer take the pressure from heat, what happens? It would explode.

It’s pretty much like blocked creativity. If you don’t let it go, soon you become irritable, lethargic, lifeless, stiff, bored, tired, and sick.

If you keep holding back your creativity for whatever reason, you must stop now. Sing, dance, write poems, doodle, do lettering or calligraphy, or think up a new recipe. Liberate your creative sparks. Doing so would keep you well and alive for a long time.

Tips to Relax Rigid Mindsets on Creativity

Here are simple ways to boost your creativity:

Be like a child.Creativity is a child's domain and an easy way to get there is through play.

Embrace your creativity. Denying it blocks your creative juices.

Play with ideas. Brainstorm. Ignore the notion of right or wrong. There should be none. Even the ridiculous are welcome. You never know just what you end up with.

Make room for new ways of thinking and doing. Think outside the box. Cultivate new values. Develop new mindsets. Create new habits. Pursue new ways.

You’re the keeper of your journal but your journal is not always safe from prying eyes that could cause untoward circumstances.

Here are seven practices to keep your journal safe and private:

Journal privately. Find a place where you can write without being disturbed and bothering about people passing and peeking.

Close your journal pages when not in use. Don’t leave your journal open, even in a private place like your bedroom or office. You don’t want any of your family members – no matter how dear they are to you – to read what’s written on them.

Put your journal away as soon as you’re done. Never leave your journal anywhere public as this exposes your vulnerability. It would invite prying eyes, may be picked up inadvertently or worst, stolen intentionally.

Assert your privacy. Label it with something like “confidential,” personal property,” “please don’t touch,” “return to… if found,” or something to that effect.

Choose simple over flashy. Shun attention. If you can help it, do away with ones that arouse interest and curiosity. Keep away from intriguing journal covers like “Journal of My Sexcapades,” “Journal of People I Hate!” or “Journal of Dark Secrets.” Such titles are just too tempting for a thrilling read.

Camouflage. Put a simple, plain-looking or scruffy jacket to your journal. You may also put it among your other books on the shelf. If creating your own, use covers of vintage books.

Lock away your journal. Keep your journal in a safe place like a locked file drawer, desk drawer, safe box, or a secluded special place that others can’t easily access.

Taking these extra measures can protect you from being exposed to unnecessary risks and consequences.

As a child, you drew portraits of your family, birds, bees, butterflies, flowers, trees, and anything that caught your imagination. It didn’t matter if they weren’t recognizable. Abstracts were good. What mattered were those playful acts of doodling, stroking, coloring, erasing, cleaning up, and everything in between. They were fun and exhilarating.

You were an artist. You never doubted it nor gave it a thought. Creativity flowed naturally. You were in that zone.

Until you grew up!

Now, you doubt your creativity. You deny having a creative past. You convince yourself that you can never be an artist.

Yet, deep inside is a persistent yearning and longing to let down your hair, kick off your shoes, and release that locked up inner child, your creative self.

You hold off. You need to send that email. Something important crops up. You promise to do it later. Later becomes tomorrow.

Then, you buy every artsy stuff you find and swear you’ll start that project you’ve been holding off. ASAP.

If you think that’s you, you’re not alone. That’s me too and even if I may have inched away from the shackles of fear and doubt, I still face them occasionally.

I’m scared. I’m not good enough. Even if I am doing it, I feel I can’t.

When we bombard ourselves with negative images, these thoughts grow into us until we live them.

But there are doable ways to defeat fear by proving it wrong.

Free Your Creativity in 10 Playful Ways

You can always come up with your list, but for starters, here is one to consider:

1) Draw a dot.

If you can’t draw a stick, let the tip of your pen kiss your paper. You just made a dot.

A dot ends a sentence, but it also marks a start of something big.

Now, draw two dots. Connect them and you have a line.

Proceed with more dots and see your dots unravel.

In art, it’s called pointillism.

“Pointillism a technique of painting in which small, distinct dots of color are applied in patterns to form an image.” ~Wikipedia

2) Doodle.

We often hear the term doodle these days?

What does it mean to doodle?

A doodle is a drawing made while a person’s attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be composed of random and abstract lines, generally without ever lifting the drawing device from the paper, in which case it is usually called a “scribble”.~Wikepedia

You can doodle just about anything, with or without meaning, random or purposively. There’s no need for you to focus. Doodle while attending a webinar, talking over the phone, waiting at school for your child, or watching TV.

I’ve tried this method many times in the past and it worked at waking up my dormant creative self.

It’s a bridge to the inner child and subconscious.

One way to do this is by doodling with your left. You’ll observe things happening as you go along. For instance, you’ll notice yourself thinking up novel topics to blog on, writing effortlessly, identifying new ways of fixing a problem or getting inspired to paint.

Another way is using the question and answer method where your left-hand writes down answers to questions or prompts.

You may ask the following:

How are you today?

What do you dream of becoming?

What hurtful, negative experience can you not forget?

What do you love doing?

What are your plans for the future?

At first, writing with the left can be hard as this is something you’re not used to. Some written text would be illegible. You can get frustrated, but don’t give up. You’ll succeed soon.

In my experience, I noticed emotions swelling and surfacing. This is normal and is part of healing suppressed thoughts and emotions.

If you want to take the question and answer method further, use both hands consecutively. Let either one start then alternate with the other. It would be interesting to know what your left (creative mind) and right hand (logical mind) “think.” For sure, they’ll present themselves differently.

Try it.

4) Dance and sing.

Dancing and singing release your happy hormones. If you think you have two left feet, dance privately where no one can lay eyes on your clumsy moves. Sing as loud as you can in your bathroom.

Release your energy. Be free.

Go ahead.

5) Play on the trampoline.

This is really fun!

The first time I did this was with my husband. We were like kids jumping up and down and bouncing around. We could not contain our laughter and the joy afterward.

6) Go where your feet take you.

Have you tried just wandering around by yourself or with someone, without a care of time and space?

I recall doing this often as a child. It was scary and adrenaline-pumping each time, but I sure had the time of my life.

These days, my adventures are mostly predictable and not as exciting.

I should do this more often. I’m sure it would fire up my imagination to new heights.

7) Be grateful each day.

A great way to practice thankfulness each day is through journaling. By recording the things that preoccupy you, you’re able to get on with other important stuff in life. You’re able to focus more on the essentials, including opening up yourself to creativity.

8) Write fiction.

Fiction writing requires the use of the imagination. It doesn’t matter if what you write are fragmented, incongruent, or makes no sense. It would be great if all the pieces fall together because then, fiction writing could be a career path to explore.

But don’t worry about that for now.

Just write. Soon, you’ll get better at being creative.

9) Do Brain Gym.

Brain gym is a system of short and simple exercises that are designed to stimulate and boost brain functions.

I’ve done this with my family in the past and it worked at calming the mind, keeping focused, developing sharpness in thinking and reflexes, generating creative ideas, among other benefits.

I should add that Brain Gym is good for hyperactive kids or those with attention deficit. I saw this a number of times in kids I know. My sister who teaches dance to pre-schoolers use this before the actual class and noticed marked improvements in their behavior.

An example of brain gym exercises is the cross crawl that mimics the movement of young children who are trying to walk. This crawling movement creates or connects neural pathways in the brain that enables smooth and normal functioning of the body and mind.

This hormone boosts your mood and makes you more sociable and likeable. It regulates a range of behaviors including appetite, sleep, arousal and aggression. It is responsible for diminishing craving, achieving restful sleep, boosting self-esteem, relieving depression, preventing agitation and aggression, and reducing anxiety.

This is the pleasure hormone that is responsible for your feelings of bliss, contentment, euphoria, pleasure, fulness of appetite, controlled motor movements, and sharpness of focus. It is strongly associated with reward mechanisms while striving to achieve a goal or pursuing a rewarding experience.

Morning pages is a form of journal writing that you do upon waking up in the morning. How you do it is pretty simple.

3 Requirements of Morning Pages

While any form of journaling in the morning would work, the most widely known method of doing morning pages has three requirements:

Requirement #1 – Write as soon as you wake up.

It’s best to do your morning pages right when you wake up. It is when your mind is fully rested and relaxed enough to not overthink and rationalize. It’s also when you’re able to write honestly and from the inner depths of your mind.

Requirement #2 – Don't stop until you have done 3 pages.

This three-page requirement, which is roughly 750 words, is a good amount to come up with in-depth writing. If you stopped after one page, you’d only be scratching the surface with your journaling.

Write whatever comes to mind.

For the first half-page or page, you may find that you’re filling the page with blasé observations, but stick with it and you’ll likely end up with some gems in the rest of your writing. It’s all about being patient and committed.

While how long morning pages take depends on how quickly you write, people typically complete theirs within about half an hour. You’ll likely find that you get through yours a bit faster when you get used to writing them.

Requirement #3 – Write your morning pages by hand.

There is this thing with putting pen or pencil to paper that’s special.

Writing with your pen or pencil rather than using the computer creates a much stronger bond between yourself and writing.

Computers, on the other hand, can stifle that connection and creative flow.

It’s also much easier to jump into your morning pages when you wake up if you’re just grabbing a journal, not turning on your computer and loading your word processing program of choice.

Since morning pages are intended to be private, it’s best not to let anyone read yours. This makes it easier to write honestly because you don’t need to worry about being judged for what you write. In fact, you may not even want to reread yours later.

Flexibility with Morning Pages

Creating a habit with morning pages takes commitment and action. However, if these requirements constrain you, then go ahead – do journaling in the morning, your style.

If you prefer using your computer or tablet, do so. Nothing can stop you. There are even sites like 750words that are specifically designed for that purpose.

No one is devoid of mistakes. Mistakes are there for certain reasons. As Henry C. Link, a famous psychologist from the 1800’s who was alienated from his Christian belief at one point in his faith, said humorously,

“While one person hesitates because he feels inferior, the other is busy making mistakes and becoming superior.”

This quote is true and applies even to designing a book cover.

As a self-published author, you create your own book cover due to necessity, zeal, naivety, or plain stubbornness.

You do it by trial and error.

There’s nothing wrong with that and it should not hurt you. Theoretically.

But it could. In many ways, it does.

Priority as Indie Author: Writing or Cover Creation?

But, hey! Which has more weight to you – writing or cover creation?

Unless you’re a graphic artist who’s trying your hand at writing, it may be best to leave cover creation to the professionals.

Easier said than done.

Reality is, not all indie authors can afford the services of professional graphic designers. It is worth saying though that indie authors these days have better options to get a professionally-designed book cover for way less. If budget is a big concern, try Fiverr. For a better-looking book cover, $5 shouldn’t hurt.

Nevertheless, go ahead and create your own.

Make mistakes. Learn from your mistakes under the premise that they could be costly. At least, for the meantime.

Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence. ~ Ovid

But first things first. What mistakes can you avoid to shorten and smoothen your learning curve?

Indie Author Mistakes in Creating Book Covers

Here are three costly mistakes that you, as an indie author, can avoid:

Mistake #1 – Not Knowing the Basics

How can you dive into book cover creation without knowing the basic concepts and principles of cover design?

Habit 5: Seek first to understand, then to be understood. ~ Stephen R. Covey, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

You don’t have to finish a two-year course in graphic designing for this.

You only have to learn a few basics:

First, you need to speak to your audience;

Second, use the following as your guide towards achieving the first:

A) Imagery

This pertains to how you use (or not use) the following elements to create harmony, dynamic flow or movement, balance, unity, and focus:

Photographs, illustrations, or images

Colors

Space

Shapes

Layout.

B) Typography

Typography refers to the visual component or aspect of the written word. This is about the style and appearance of text in the cover, expressed in terms of font types as well as their size and placement.

In your front cover, apply typography to the following:

Title – This should be the first thing that people read. Size and place it so that it catches the reader’s attention first. Placement may be at the top or towards the bottom.

Subtitle – This is a secondary, supportive and subordinate text component of your cover, which is meant to substantiate, expalain, or elucidate on the title. As an optional part, you may or may not have it.

Author name – This is your name or pen name as author.

This may seem overwhelming at first but their application would feel effortless once you use them.

Mistake #2 – Not Getting Feedback

Feedback is a great monitoring tool to gauge the performance of a person, event or thing (or in this case, your book cover). Getting valid feedback is important so that you can enhance your book cover to achieve its purpose.

Feedback could be written or verbal and may be taken from:

reviews

critique

reactions

advice

reports

suggestions or recommendations.

This is somewhat tricky because, unless you ask pointed questions about your book cover, the feedback you get may be on your book as a whole. The simplest way to deal with this is to simply ask.

What do you think of the book cover?

What struck you the most?

What message does it tell you?

How can it look better and be more effective?

Would you consider buying the book?

Ask your colleagues in the publishing industry, people in your Facebook group, customers, friends, or family members.

Another form of feedback is statistics and you can experiment on this through split testing. You make two or more copies of your cover and, all things kept constant, observe which one garners the most sales then go for it.

If all those are not enough, work with your gut. Ask yourself:

How does my book cover look?

What message does it give?

Do I feel right?

If I were walking past an aisle of books, would it jump at me?

Does it get my attention?

Does it point me to where I’m supposed to look?

Does it give me a great sense of what’s inside the book?

Would I buy the book?

Answers from yourself could be subjective especially since you created your book cover, but then it’s a way as well to get feedback.

Mistake #3 – Not going the extra mile

If you plan on creating your book covers for a long time or to work with cover designers for your books, you need to improve your craft on cover creation.

Here are concrete steps you can take:

1. Check out local or online bookshops and study the book cover of top sellers.

2. Search book clubs or fora for book reviews of top sellers and check out their book covers.

3. Visit the library for books on cover design.

4. Take short courses on cover designing. Skillshare is a great way to start given its wide collection of snappy, bite-sized, and easy-to-learn courses, such as the following:

Benefit #1: Solitude and Freedom

A desire for solitude may be misconstrued as loneliness, emptiness, isolation, seclusion, privacy, detachment, separation and solitariness.

Indeed, you may engage in journaling when feeling lonely or empty.

However, it could be more than that.

Solitude is the state of being alone without being lonely. It is a positive and constructive state of engagement with oneself. Solitude is desirable, a state of being alone where you provide yourself wonderful and sufficient company.​ ~ Hara Estrof Marano, Psychology Today

More often than not, journaling is where you find:

Comfort.

Refuge

Peace of mind

Sense of security

Self-understanding

Peace of mind

Joy.

It is in solitude where you let down your hair and become the person you truly are.

It’s enjoying the freedom to be oneself.

No masks.

No pretenses.

No inhibitions.

You lose yourself and claim it back, way better when you let it go.

The magic takes place in solitude

Benefit #2: Relief from Stress and Anxiety

To many, there is no place better than being alone journaling.

Journaling relieves stress and anxiety.

It’s calming, soothing and relaxing.

It is a powerful tool for self-expression.

When you write in your journal, you let go of thoughts and emotions that frustrating, troubling, stimulating, and even uplifting but stressful.

As a result, you gain clarity, self-understanding, focus, confidence, and strength.

Now you are able to face and solve problems with calm, grace and confidence.

You notice that your health condition improves. Ailments such as migraine, depression, anxiety, insomnia, heart disease, and other forms of illness diminish or disappear.

Benefit #3: Creative Spark

Journaling sparks creativity.

It is a tool for creative expression.

It challenges you to think, feel and respond in familiar, strange, novel or untested ways.

Are You Ever Good Enough?

You doubt if you can be a good parent to your kids, a great partner to your spouse of 20 years, a competent employee to your boss of 12 years, or an excellent mentor to your repeat clients.

Do you have what it takes?

Do you measure up?

What do people say about you?

Are they satisfied with your performance?

What if?

You doubt if you’re ever good enough. It feels like you’re always short – shorty, short-sighted, short-handed, stopped short or short-changed.

Anything you do is always wanting.

At the end of the day, you always feel empty, deprived, down-and-out, alone, lonely, frustrated and dissatisfied.

It’s because you doubt yourself and why is that? For reasons only you can tell. If you don’t know what causes your constant self-doubt, perhaps it’s time to look inside and think through it. Otherwise, self-doubt would be a recurring thief that would rob you of your confidence and self-esteem.

7 Ways to Deal with Self-Doubt

There are many ways to deal with self-doubt. Here are some of them:

Tip #1 - Accept yourself

Embrace who you are, warts and all. Who you are is who you are. You can never be somebody else. If you deny yourself of your own skin, who would be there to accept the real you? If there’s something you owe yourself, it is self-acceptance. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Tip #2 - Believe in yourself

Who you are today is a living person. You breathe, laugh, cry, buckle down under pressure, worry, question, get back up, fight, grow, change, and do unexpected things. Who you are now won’t be that person today, yesterday nor tomorrow. I believe in who you are and the world would believe you.

Tip #3 - Trust

Trust that everything will be taken care. There's a reason for everything and it would unfold at the right time.

Tip #4 - Listen

Listen - to others, your intuition or gut feel, the universe. There is so much to learn from. Wisdom abound but you have to tune in to the right frequency. Do this by silencing your inner voice, reaching out to others, praying and meditating, seeking to understand, and expressing gratitude.

Tip #5 - Act

Take action. If you do nothing, how can you expect things to change? Unless you can move things with telekinesis, a fork or spoon won’t move to feed you nor will you reach your destination if you don’t walk. Today, set your goals or objectives, plan ahead or picture the steps to achieve them, switch off your inner critic, and act. Easy to say but may be hard to implement. Still, you can do it as long as you take action.

Tip #6 - Expect the best

Think of the good. Instead of thinking negative or predicting bad things happening, decide to be an optimist instead. As long as you’re alive, strive to be better and expect great changes happening.

Tip #7 - Celebrate yourself

Be happy for yourself. Celebrate your breakthroughs, achievements, and victories, no matter how big or small. Affirm how awesome you are!

And, oh, don’t forget to do journaling to let these ideas slide through.

When you feel like drowning in a tsunami of various stuff – events, responsibilities, people, emotions, plans, condition, and expectations – what do you do?

How do you deal with it?

Regardless of your stature, situation or circumstance, you go through this.

How did you deal with it? Did you buckle down in the face of these challenges? Did you fight or run away?

Here are ways that you can deal with overwhelm as sanely as possibly:

First, accept it.

Life is not perfect. Overwhelm does happen to good or bad people, young and old alike, male or female… everybody. No one escapes it so embrace it. It makes life easier. Then, take it from there.

Second, relax.

Take things in stride. This allows you to be aware of what’s going on. It buys you time to notice what’s important and essential or urgent and life-changing and puts you back in the proper mental frame to respond accordingly.

Third, figure out what’s next.

Think: What would you do next? Do you restrategize?

Here are possible steps that you may take:

Create a list – what needs to be done, what you want to get done, and nice if done

Fourth, clean your clutter.

Fifth, be real.

Ground your choices on reality. It doesn’t make sense to simply ignore a deadline or to pretend that a complex piece of work can be done in 15 minutes. Make allowances.

Sixth, revise your commitments.

Promises are not made to be broken, but some need to be revised. Act promptly to revise commitments that you cannot or will not keep.

Seventh, first things first.

Take time to exercise, pray, meditate, and “defrag” no matter how busy you are. When you do these things first thing each day, you’ll notice yourself transform into a more joyful, resourceful, and resilient person.

Eight, breathe.

First, last, and always, let a rising bubble of anxiety be your reminder to breathe.

I started journal writing in my late teens over 30 years ago (yes, that’s how old I am) when journals weren’t in style and were called by a different name. Yes, diary! And guess what, I used plain old ballpoint pens and lined notebooks. My journaling practice included writing my thoughts and feelings, inspiring quotes, expenses, contact information, daily to-do list and accomplishments, sketches, stories, insights, class notes, outlines of things to write, relevant facts and figures, among other forgettable stuff.

My daughter started journaling at elementary some seven years ago with just a pen and paper. It was a lot of girlie stuff, love notes to me, doodles, and stories. She still does now that she’s at Grade 10 and oh, dear! She has become so much better. She does it every day non-stop. She loves art so her journals are full of it.

We both weren’t well aware that what we were doing was journal writing. We just started it.

We didn’t think if there was even a proper or right way to write our thoughts, feelings, and creations on paper. We just did it.

We started when we felt ready. We didn’t give a thought about when. We just did.

We used whatever was there. Nothing fancy. Just plain old paper and anything that writes on it.

You may do that, too.

Journaling is simple. It knows no rules. People make their own.

It is inspiring to use fancy journals and accessories such as:

ink pens

coloring pens

markers

stickers

stamp pads

sketch pads

dividers

acid-free papers

watercolors

gelli plates

glitters, and

various other embellishments.

You don’t have to.

It’s really up to you.

So about those questions, the answer is – Just start.

There is no right or wrong with journaling and how you do it is really up to you.

Their creative stock came randomly, unplanned, and in splashes, bursts and roars. A mom has to be ready for these but many times, I wasn’t. I had to settle with what I had, including shabby, throwaway sheets.

I could tell lots of stories about this but that would be for another post.

Looking back, I find those moments precious and priceless. I can say with certainty now that they won’t happen the way they did… especially now that my kids have grown up.

I’m glad I took the pains of “catching those happy moments” even with shabby sheets, which I have kept, by the way.

Publishing: Journaling to Write a Book

For those glued to their screens like forever, rest assured that your computer doubles up as a journaling tool.

That’s how my youngest son’s book got created. I was sitting on a work table across him tapping (almost pounding) my laptop keys to capture his words, verbatim.

Blogging: Journaling with Your Computer

Those who are into blogging know how well they are able to chronicle their activities, take note of their experiences, thoughts, emotions, wisdom, even silliness. Call that online journaling or weblogging where you use a website as your diary or journal.

Summing Up

Journaling is for everyone and for various purposes. It may capitalize on writing materials that are readily on hand, including shabby sheets.

The purpose of journal writing is to capture ideas, emotions, memories, stories, poems, art, and practically anything you want to be written.

On unplanned moments, use shabby sheets and move them over to a form that would withstand the test of time.

Here’s your challenge: Do whatever it takes to write down what you must.

Why not? Life is a blessing and every moment unnoticed and not celebrated is a waste.

If you imagine people never getting up from bed to see the light of day, you would realize just how lucky you are. Also, you don’t have to buy a bottle of canned oxygen to breathe fresh air, to scamper for food in a mountain of rubbish, nor to be subjected every day to the terrifying sound of bullets and real threat to life.

Life is great and there is just so much to be thankful for.

People who express gratitude, whether openly or in subtle or covert ways, radiate positivity and cheerfulness. They tend to be calm, peaceful, content, and joyful, knowing that blessings abound and are there for the taking.

God gave you 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “Thank You?” ~William A. Ward

So, why practice gratitude?

What do you think?

Get Yourself a Gratitude Journal

If saying “thanks” is an ordeal because you have so much to attend to, it’s a clear signal for you to stop what you’re doing.

Take a moment to breathe. It would unburden you of stress.

Be mindful of what’s happening in your surroundings and, more importantly, your life.

If you have a piece of paper or notebook, go on… write the things that you are grateful for, both big and small, important or not, Earth-shaking or trivial.

If you have a gratitude journal, all the better (though not necessary)! You could easily use the journaling prompts in it.

Keeping a gratitude journal is nothing complicated. It doesn’t have to be methodical or structured. Although it is more focused on practicing daily gratitude, it functions in the same way as most other journals.

The bottom line with keeping a gratitude journal is having a tool to express thankfulness.

5 Simple Steps to Practice Thankfulness Every Day

If starting a gratitude journal is something strange, here’s a brief on how to do it:

Step #1 – Ask Yourself: What are you grateful for today?

Think about events, people, challenges, learnings, or insights that have moved or enriched you.

Step #2 – Write down your thoughts on paper.

It doesn't matter what you use to write on - standard notebook, fancy journal, tablet, print paper, calendar, post-it notes, scratch paper, or receipt. Personally, I use my cell phone and save to draft. What is important is getting into the habit of expressing gratitude each day. Of course, there is nothing like keeping a journal that you can go back to time and again.

Step #3 – Keep a daily regular schedule.

Set a time each day to write on your gratitude journal. It may be on your work break, lunch, before bed... you decide. Your important keywords are daily, regular and schedule.

Step #3 – Express gratitude any way you want.

Draw, illustrate or color. You may even write a poem or song. If that's how you want to say thanks, do it.

Step #5 – Protect your privacy.

At the end of the day, keep your journal in a safe place. What you write in there is yours to keep. It's best to keep it private and secure.

Aren't those steps simple?

Go ahead – pause, breathe, reflect and write!

A piece of paper and pen along with a grateful heart are all it takes.

How the book cover elements were used or put together effectively contributes to engendering a positive feeling of excitement, curiosity and/or desire in your target reader. They may not even know it. They simply feel it.

Attribute #2 – Simplicity

It is simple, uncomplicated and spot on. It is devoid of clutter that may repel, mislead or confuse readers and take them away from the real message, theme or content of your book.

You would see book covers that only have type or words in them, nothing else.

Attribute #3 – Uniqueness

It is different, uncommon and special. No other book cover has that “X” factor or quality.

In an ocean of romance novels or non-fiction books on productivity, yours is undoubtedly a standout.

Attribute #4 – Clarity

It is crystal clear what your book is all about simply by looking at its cover. It mirrors and/or hints at your book’s content, theme, genre or topic. At thumbnail size, your book cover is easily recognizable; its text – title and author, most especially – is highly readable.

Book Cover Elements: The Obvious

The apparent or obvious elements of book covers are mostly these three:

Element #1 – Title and subtitle

The title is the name of your book. It is usually the dominant element of your book cover (although in many instances, the author’s name is). Many titles, most especially non-fiction, are straightforward. You get what the book is all about as soon as you read its title. It may be one, two, three or more words whose meaning may have to be deciphered.

Book titles are important and necessary. Your book has to have one. The subtitle, however, is not compulsory but optional. You may or may not have one.

What’s the value of having a subtitle? Your subtitle puts more meat on your title. It defines the slant of your book, explains its content further and provides more details. This is especially most helpful if you have a book title containing a word or two.

For instance, how would target readers know what your book “Hurry” is all about? If it’s fiction, your choice of image would most probably reveal more about it. For non-fiction, it may be more daunting and can be confusing. Attaching a subtitle that says “How to Do Things More Quickly in Your Own Terms and Succeed at What You Do” would most probably help clarify your book’s content.

Element #2 – Author’s name

This is the name of the book writer or, in some instances, the publisher. As an author, you may use your real name or choose a literary pen name, fictitious name or pseudonym.

Element #3 – Image

This may be a picture, image or symbol that would depict your book’s content or provide a clue or hint. It may be a single image or symbol, a collection or collage of images, or a composite image.

A composite image is what you get after combining various visual elements from separate sources to get a desired effect or picture. Graphic artists achieve this through compositing (with the use of photo editing software like Adobe Photoshop) to create the illusion that all those elements belong to or are parts of the same scene.

So we’re done with the obvious elements.

Book Cover Elements: The Subtle

Now, make a guess on the subtle elements of book covers. They are those that you may not even know or suspect exist but are positioned or placed there for some reasons. The impact that they create is more psychological or at the level of the unconscious or subconscious.

I can think of four:

Color - You may not always be aware of this but colors have a subtle effect on your psychological, physiological and behavioral functions. For instance, red evokes excitement, energy, and warmth. Yellow stimulates happiness, laughter, and cheer. You may read some more about color psychology here.

Typography - You may use two types of fonts in your book cover. No more than three. Otherwise, you'll get a messy and incohesive effect.

Space - Empty spaces give a break to your reader's vision. They separate each one from the other. Those near or within large chunks of negative spaces gain more importance or attention.

Composition - This is how you arrange, place or size the visual elements or parts of your design so that the most important get dominance and all the rest contribute to it. This includes images, fonts, space, color, and everything else.